You Hold Me And I'll Hold You

When a great-aunt dies, a young child finds comfort in being held and in holding, too.

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- A young girl narrates this story of how she attends her great-aunt's memorial service. Whenever someone says, ``I'm sorry to hear it,'' she wonders just how sorry she will have to be. She was sorry when her mother moved away from the family, and also when she had to preach at her sister's hamster's funeral. This service is different, though, for as she is saddened and frightened by the grief of the adults around her, her father takes her in his arms and wisely whispers, ``You hold me and I'll hold you.'' With beautiful simplicity, Carson pinpoints the greatest solace that people can have in times of grief--one another. The warm father-child relationship adds to the positive tone of the book, and Cannon's pastel-toned watercolors capture the childlike nuances of the narrative. Like the text, the illustrations allow rays of sun to dominate what could have been a dark subject. Realistic but nonthreatening, Carson's story charms as it comforts. All libraries will want to offer this book to someone to hold. --Lori A. Janick, Parkwood Elementary School, Pasadena, TX
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A defiant girl is not cleaning her room when she hears her father, talking on the telephone, say he's "sorry to hear that." She's worried--his words remind her of what people said when her mother moved out. He tells her his aunt has died, and she recalls her grief when her sister's hamster died. She also remembers "preaching" at the animal's funeral; later, when her father cries at his aunt's funeral, he whispers, "You hold me and I'll hold you." The girl decides that these soothing words are "what I'm going to say if I ever have to preach at another funeral." Carson ( Pulling My Leg ) has created an engaging and straightforward heroine to dramatize the impact of death on a child--this girl thinks, reacts and talks in a remarkably believable fashion, making her narration all the more touching. She reveals her struggle not only with the event itself but also with remembered traumas and with the grief of adults. Lightly tinted watercolors with collaged-in materials provide an unthreatening setting, and Cannon ( With Love From Koko ) paints a family of reassuringly lovable people. All the elements of the book combine to make this a moving and sensitive exploration of a difficult topic. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A little girl describes events following the death of an aunt. She's procrastinating about cleaning her room when she overhears Dad on the phone: ``I'm so sorry to hear it.'' Remembering just those words in connection with her mother moving away, she wonders ``how sorry I'm going to have to get.'' Now, Grandpa's sister has died; Dad, the narrator, and her sister Helen go to Tennessee for the memorial service. It's a sad time- -everybody cries--yet the pain is easier to bear because it's shared, and Dad knows that it's ``good to be held, and...good to be holding too.'' With unusual sensitivity, poet Carson (Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet, 1989) captures the child's point of view, linking previous experiences (she once ``preached'' at services for a hamster) to the present with lyrical ease and characterizing this wholesome family with telling details (Dad is gentle but firm: the room must be tidied even after the bad news). Using close-ups as intimate as hugs, Cannon generalizes people's faces while delineating warmly empathetic smiles and solid, dependably comforting bodies. Without preaching or false sentiment, a realistic, consoling picture of good people grieving after the death of a loved one. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.